Guilty Until Proven Innocent
by EmpoweredWolfWrath
Summary: A demon beast has escaped Nightmare on Dreamland. Now she must help her newfound friends defeat a new evil that is aiding King Dedede. Title change!
1. Chapter 1

_Yes, I know this goes against my other story Growing Up by because in this story MK is Nightmare's creation. So… enjoy. To Ivy Starr and RabidHouseBrownie. By the way, Barenesence is pronounced (Bare-en-ess-ense)_

"Barenesence!" Molofrin screeched at me, as I was hanging from the top of the ceiling, bat-like wings wrapped around me as I slept.

"Barenesence!" Molofrin shouted again, this time picking up a rock and throwing it with inhuman strength and hitting me. I opened up my wings to reveal white face surrounded by black curls and a body covered in silver scales up to my neck. I wore a torn brown shirt and skirt that were almost rags. "What?" I asked sleepily, rubbing a purple, cat-like eye.

"Our master wants us," hissed Molofrin, sticking out his forked tongue and having it flutter inches from my face. Oh, how I longed to grab that thin black tongue and rip it out of his head.

"Very well. What does he want?"

"He did not say. But whatever it is, I cannot understand why he would want you for it." He smirked as I bared my fangs and clenched my fists to keep from shredding him to ribbons, "Nor I you." Was all I said and watched in satisfaction as Molofrin's reptilian face twisted in rage.

We walked down the metallic hallway in silence. Molofrin's snake-like body sliding along the surface, making a grating sound that seemed to only irritate me, my clawed feet clicked on the hard surface. We were the only demon beasts on all of Nightmare's ship that seemed to truly hate each other.

We stepped into a large room with a catwalk that stretched out into the middle of it. We walked out onto the end and stepped onto a rising platform that carried them up to a dark mass that was our master.

"You called for us master?" Molofrin asked, making a deep bow. _Suck up_ I thought, crossing my arms.

"You will be going to Pop Star to finish off the little star warrior known as Kirby. And while you're at it, see if you can kill Meta Knight also."

"As you wish sir," Molofrin said, bowing again.

"Fine," I sighed, "But why do I have to go with him?"

"Silence!" hissed Nightmare, "You shall do as I say! Now go!" involuntarily, my wings unfolded, I took air, and glided out of the room.

…

From the day I was created, I hated Nightmare. I somewhat envied those who had defied him. I didn't like them or respect them, just envied. Meta Knight, for example. He had defied Nightmare and was now in the galaxy soldier army. Or, was. From what I had heard, they had broken up after Nightmare finished off the star warriors.

Molofrin however, was just peachy working for the guy. He certainly was evil enough. I remembered how he had killed Sir Krin from the Galaxy Soldiers. And his armor I liked best, it had sort of a not-quite-liquid, not-quite-solid look to it.

I glided down the hallways, passing a small arena where she heard roars and screeches. I peeked inside and watched as Fire Lion attacked an Ice Bird that was shooting shards of ice at it in a porcupine sort of way.

I pulled herself away from the fight and walked into a room with a large transmitter in the center and a wall of buttons that who knows what did. Talking to Molofrin was a little man without legs. Customer Service.

"We were told to come here to be sent to Pop Star?" I asked, folding my wings and sitting on the transmitter.

"Yes. Just a moment," Customer Service stepped behind a small panel, "If you please," Molofrin pulled me onto the transmitter all the way just as the energy started to crackled around them and we disappeared in a flash of light.

Swirling colors spun around us as we were shoved simultaneously into a vortex that was transporting us hundreds of light-years away from where we once were.

"I still don't understand why he chose you to come on this mission," snarled Molofrin, flicking his tail so that it whipped my arm. "Ow! What is your problem?"

"My problem is working with the likes of you!" he growled

I flung myself at Molofrin, scratching and biting every inch of him I could find.

They vortex disappeared and we were in a dark room, however, this had not been noticed by either of us as they had gone on attacking each other. Once we heard footsteps, then we looked up. Blood oozing from cuts on our faces. I shooted upwards and clung to the ceiling, leaving Molofrin to duck behind a pillar. "Idiot," I mumbled as the door burst open and Meta Knight, Sword, and Blade walked into the room, swords at the ready. _So that's what he looks like,_ I thought. I had never seen him in person before, I had only heard from other demon beasts. He looked a bit like a blueberry.

"I heard something," said one of his knaves, or, that's what I assumed they were, he had turquoise armor and his helmet looked a bit like a loaf of bread.

"Investigate," said Meta Knight, and his knaves obeyed. I smirked at the thought of them discovering Molofrin and slicing him to ribbons.

As if on queue, the demon beast darted out into the center of the room, the two knaves close on his tail. He raced out of the room, all three of the knights chasing after him. I dropped onto the floor, making barely a sound.

I peeked out into the hallway, which was seemingly empty. Suddenly, someone jumped me, shoving me to the ground and pointing a golden sword at my neck. "I thought it might have brought a friend," Meta Knight glared down at me, his eyes a bloody red.

"He's not my friend," I growled, ok, maybe not the best way to save my skin, "I hate him and I hate Nightmare."

"As anyone else would say it, that's bull," his foot was on my chest, pressing the air out of me

"No it's not," I contradicted, "Why should I be any different than you? Or Kirby? You are both Nightmares' creation. You didn't slice Kirby in two,"

Meta Knight twisted the swords hilt, I could feel it turn on my skin, "Kirby and I are star warriors. Unlike you and the vermin my companions are chasing now."

"You chose the side you were on, now I choose mine,"

Meta Knight pulled his sword away from my neck, but his foot remained on my chest, "Who are you?" he asked

"My name is Barenesence. I came here with Molofrin, the half man-half snake that your friends are chasing,"

"You are not working for Nightmare? What about him?"

"I wish I wasn't, so I don't think I am." I said, "Molofrin, on the other hand, is after yours and Kirby's heads."

Meta Knight seemed lost in thought when his followers ran up to him. The one in the turquoise armor panted, "He disappeared into the forest sir. We could not find him." He glanced down at me, "Shall we finish her for you sir? It would be our pleasure." He pointed his sword at me, before Meta Knight said, "No, that will not be necessary Sword, she is no threat to us."

"I'm glad you feel that way," I smirked, "but, if you wouldn't mind, would you please take your foot off of my chest?"

He removed his foot and I stood up, brushing nonexistent dirt from my skirt, "Thank you,"

Meta Knight nodded and then grabbed my shirt and pulled me close to his face, "But if you are lying to me, I can, and will, hunt you down."

He and his knaves walked away, leaving shivers down my spine.

_Well? What did you think of it so far? I'm not sure whether to have any BarenesencexMK. That's for you to decide. Don't worry; I'll come up with a nickname for her so it won't be so long._


	2. Chapter 2

_Welcome to chapter 2! Please grab your popcorn and watch as I make this up as I go along. Lol. By the way, Molofrin doesn't have any legs. He kind of like brother to Naga (When Words Collide; WereCat's Curse) except without the snakes for hair._

I crept through the halls of the castle, hoping that I would not run into any more knights as they might not be as kind as Meta Knight and his knaves had been to me. _Kind…ppffhh._

I came to an open window and inspected the lay of the land. There, a good distance away, was a smattering of houses. At least, I'm going to assume that's what houses looked like. My only home was a little metal room with a cot that might have been filled with rocks.

I opened my wings and soared over the houses, looking down at the people on the cobblestone road. Out of curiosity, I flew lower, low enough to catch the eyes of the people who happened to be looking up for no particular reason. "What is that?!" yelled one of them, pointing at me. Others looked up and gasped as they saw me, "It's another demon beast the king ordered!" shouted a little girl with a pink and green dress. As she said that, some other children gathered around her and started to pick up rocks and threw them at me. I swerved to dodge the attack, but a few rocks beat against my wings, making it difficult for me to fly. One of the adults threw a particularly large rock and it hit me in the stomach. The air was knocked out of me and I started spiraling down. Thankfully, I made it to the forest and crash landed in a tree.

Spitting out leaves and twigs, I peeked out from behind the cover of my crash pad and saw the crowd of people running in my direction. I dropped to the ground and ran deeper into the woods, seeing as they would see me if I took flight. I heard someone speak and I ran a bit faster at their words

"Find it and kill it. We don't need another monster attacking our village."

Eventually, I managed to outrun the crowd and sat up against a tree, my face buried in my arms. _Why?_ I asked myself, _Does everyone who sees my only sees a monster?_

(Yes, I know it's a sappy line)

My stomach growled, and I touched it as it was a foreign object. I sniffed the air and I scented a rabbit a only a few yards away. I stood up and silently walked over to where I saw a small rabbit nibbling on some grass. Now, I have morals. I don't kill the innocent, but I was hungry and that rabbit look _really _good.

I grabbed the rabbit by the ears and quickly snapped its neck so that it would have a quick death. I neatly slit its belly and gulped down the raw flesh, rabbit blood running down my chin and staining my fingers.

I heard rustling up in the trees and watched as Meta Knight jumped down from a ridiculously high branch, "I was hoping to find Molofrin but instead I catch you feasting on the flesh of a creature not even big enough to put up a fight."

"Well, we can't all be little angels with light shining out of our every crevice." I snapped, wiping the blood from my chin

"I don't expect much from your kind,"

"Even though you are one of us whether you like it or not," I retorted, "I don't like who I am or where I came from, but at least I accept it."

"I am no longer one of you," he murmured

"You're in denial." Was all I said

"No,"

"You even have wings,"

Meta Knight twitched. I had touched a nerve. I saw his cape disappear and be replaced with bat-like wings not unlike my own, except mine where a milky white and his where a purpleish blue.

"Yes, but that means nothing."

"It means that you are still a demon beast. Just accept it. You don't have to like it, I certainly don't, but I don't hide it."

"And look where that's gotten you," Meta Knight crossed his arms, "I saw you being run out of the village. The people of Cappy Town are not in any mood to put up with another one of the king's attacks on Kirby."

"Only because I don't hide behind a mask."

Almost immediately, the forest seemed to explode. Branches snapped and animals scattered, screeching. A tree fell and the knight pushed me out of the way. Glancing up, I saw Molofrin, his face twisted and warped in rage.

"You!" he roared, hurtling himself at Meta Knight. The knight jumped out of the way and his attacker fell right where he had been moments before.

"What do you want beast?"Meta Knight asked, unsheathing Galaxia

"I assumed that might have been obvious. You really aren't as smart as I had imagined, and my expectations weren't high," Molofrin laughed. _Buuuuuuuurrrrrnnnn_

I flew into the air, or, at least, as high as the trees would permit. I landed behind Molofrin and grabbed his neck. He gasped, clawing at my hands. "If you would do the honors?" I asked Meta Knight, keeping a firm hold on the beast. Meta Knight's eyes narrowed but nonetheless, he drove his sword at Molofrin. But before the sword had made contact with his scaly skin, his tail lashed up and whipped me across my face. I dropped him, a red welt coming into view on my cheek.

Molofrin made a mad dash to the castle going faster than anyone would have expected from a beast without legs.

"Follow him!" Meta Knight shouted

"No need to shout," I said, but hurried along behind him from the air.

We ran/flew through the village, causing everyone to stare at us with obvious bewilderment. The girl who had gotten the town to attack me (frankly, she's not in my good pages) started of follow us. Behind her, a little pink ball who I assumed was Kirby, and a boy who's eyes were hidden behind his hair.

"Meta Knight! What's going on?" she yelled behind us, "What is _she _doing? Slice her in half!"

Meta Knight, however, didn't answer; he just kept running until we reached the castle. As we crossed the drawbridge, we ran into King Dedede… literally. One the right of the penguin was an oversized snail and on the left was Molofrin, baring his teeth in what was either rage or a smile.

"Watch it! Wha d'ya think you're doin?" he asked, glancing at each of us in turn

"Sire, that thing is an extremely dangerous demon beast. I ask you to let me finish it off." Asked Meta Knight, again pulling out his sword.

"No! He's under my protection as long as he finishes off Kirby,"

"Sire-," Meta Knight began but the king cut him off, "I ain't gonna hear about it… unless that one wants to help me too," he grinned at me which made me want to vomit, "Hello, what's your name?"

"Shut up before I snap your neck," I snarled, the king looked affronted, "Well, I didn't want you anyway."

"Just keep telling yourself that."

Molofrin jumped in, eyeing both Kirby and Meta Knight with a look of hunger, "Can I kill him now?" he asked, his voice sounded shrill, like a scream in slow motion.

"Naw, let's wait. I need the perfect moment."

And with that, he glared at the kids and Meta Knight, winked at me (shudder) and swaggered off, Molofrin at is side.

"Remind me to kill them both." I muttered, crossing my arms, "That was disturbing in ways not even Nightmare could produce."

The girl glared up at me, "What do you want? Give us a reason we shouldn't burn you at the stake."

"Firstly, I'm not a witch smart one," I said sarcastically, "And secondly, I chose to be good. I'm no different than Kirby, or Me-," but before I could finish my sentence, Meta Knight stomped on my foot, hard. Then he spoke quickly, "She is harmless. Very uncivilized, hasn't the faintest idea between right and wrong, but harmless."

"What's your name?" the boy asked, mimicking me and crossing my arms

"Barenesence. You?"

"Tuff. This is Tiff." Tiff nodded, "And this is Kirby," she motioned to the little warrior, "Your name is Bener… Baren… can I just call you Nessa?"

"Sure."


	3. Chapter 3 part 1

_Happy Halloween to all! I want to clear something up. I just realized that there was another fic called Tainted Blood. To the author, if you're reading this, I'm uberly sorry and I didn't know there was a fic by that name already. This chapter is Halloween based so enjoy!_

For the past 2 days I kept to myself, I lived in the woods where I was sure no one would find me. Occasionally I saw Meta Knight and his 2 knaves (whose names I figured out were Sword and Blade) coming out to train. I let them be. I wasn't exactly in the mood to see anyone. I'm very solitary and not exactly a fan of being around people. Molofrin however, was up in castle Dedede, planning to off Kirby. Also, from what I knew of the bastard, he was planning on not just killing Kirby, but Meta Knight, and probably just about everyone else in this village.

It was turning to fall. The leaves were changing and the air got a bit colder. While I was walking, I heard voices just outside the forest, talking excitedly. I listened from behind a tree, anxious to hear what the conversation was about.

"Do you have everything set up for tonight?" asked one of the voices

"Yeah, now all we need are the kids. This'll scare the pants off of them!" assured the other one

I walked off, contemplating what they were talking about. Then I remembered. How could I have forgotten? Tonight was Halloween!

(Yes I know they don't call it Halloween in either version but I forgot what it is)

A mischievous smile crept over my mouth. Now was my night to have a little fun.

…

They sky grew dark as I watched from above the treetops as the kids from the village all gathered at the edge of the woods. Now, I know I'm supposed to be a benevolent demon beast, but sometimes scaring people is just too much fun to pass up.

I watched the first kid go into the woods, holding a torch. Now was my chance. I wasn't going to hurt the kid… physically.

I swooped down into the trees and waited on a low branch for the light of the torch got closer and closer. Just as the child was right below me, I swung upside down and screeched in his face.

He almost dropped the torch as he ran at full speed away from me. I was laughing so hard I fell off of the limb an onto the forest floor. As I laughed, I heard a cough above me. I turned and saw Meta Knight standing on the branch where I had been moments before. He glared down at me. Eyes full of, not what I would call anger, but disapproval.

"Having fun?" he asked in a tone that sounded more serious than necessary.

"More fun than you at the very least." I said back, "Lighten up! Or will that hurt your ego?"

Meta Knight jumped from the tree and landed on my chest, knocking the air out of me. He pointed Galaxia at my face.

"Déjà vu," I said, smiling

"If you wish to keep your head, you will learn to hold your tongue." He snarled, sheathing his sword, "I have things to attend to."

And with that, he walked off into the darkness, showing almost no sign that he was ever here

"… Party pooper," I muttered, folding my arms, "Just because he has a pole shoved up his arse doesn't mean we all do."

I sighed and kept walking, hoping to come across more kids to scare.

After awhile, I heard rustling in the bushes ahead of me. I climbed up into a tree and watched as Tiff, Tuff, and Kirby approached the bushes where I could see Dedede and Escargoon holding out a fishing rod that seemed to have florescent orbs attached on the end. In the tree across from me I saw Meta Knight's silhouette and his glowing amber eyes.

"Chill out," I mouthed to him. Like I was going to scare the three of them. Meta Knight would run me through if I did. It seemed as if he followed them around everywhere… like an emo puppy dog.

I watched as the three kids approached the light. The boy seemed freaked out to an unhealthy extent, but the girl just picked up a rock and threw it at the bush where Dedede and Escargoon were hiding.

I laughed behind my hand as the rock brained Escargoon and he let out a loud, "Ouch!" before Tiff, Tuff, and Kirby moved on. Meta Knight seemed to follow them silently through the trees.

The deeper into the woods they went, the more Dedede seemed to pester them. It irritated me on a personal level the pitiful gags that the adults seemed to put up for these kids. It was so pathetic I almost wanted to burn them. Oh well, I'll wait for my birthday.

Later, Meta Knight motioned towards me. Silently, I flew over to him and sat next to him on the branch. "Yes?" I asked

"I have things to do back at the castle. I want you to prove to me that I can actually trust your kind." He explained

"Even though you're one of our kind too," I muttered

"We'll argue about that later," Meta Knight said harshly, "I want you to follow them and make sure the king doesn't do anything too idiotic. If you harm a hair on their heads…" Meta Knight ran a gloved finger down his blade, "You know what will happen."

"Yes sir," I said. I did an over exaggerated army salute and glided behind the three children.

"What are the consequences of what I have just done?" Meta Knight murmured to himself and sat in the tree, waiting for Tiff, Tuff, or both running for help for some Nightmare related reason.

…

I swooped ahead of them. Like the first kid I had scared, I waited until they were under the tree before I fell into an upside down position in front of them. They gave a startled yell and stumbled back. Tiff shouted at me, "Nessa! What was that for?!"

"Happy Halloween!" I laughed, landing on the ground to help them up

"Why are you here?" Tuff asked coldly, half glaring, half smiling at me

"Meta Knight wanted me to look after you for some strange, twisted reason that he formed in his own strange, twisted mind."

"You? Look after us?" Tiff asked in disbelief, "Why should we believe you?"

"Because I said so," I said, smirking, "Let's go, I heard there was a graveyard up here somewhere."

"Poyo!" Kirby shouted gleefully, completely oblivious to what was going on around him.

_Hello! I'm working on part 2 now. In case you were wondering, this is basically my retake on the Kirby episode (dub version) Scare Tactics. I'm not sure what it's called in the original. Sue me. By the way, I need your guys advice. Should I do some Nessa/Mety_ fluff or no? Review and let me know please!


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